The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1887-05-27
Eating Pies on q Wager.
EUGENE LOCKE AND FRANK AVERY GIVE
A sIcKENING EXHIBITION.

EUGENE LOCKE AND FRANK AVERY GIVE
A sIcKENING EXHIBITION.
From the chicago Herald.
Frank Avery is big negro who
lives in the town of Lake. Eugene
Locke is q white man who boards on
Seeley avenue. Both men walked into
Billy I.akemans saloon, at 34I West
Madison street, at 1880 last evening
and declared that they were ready to
eat ten of Lakeman's pies on a wager
of $40. The pastry was spread on a
table near the pool table All the pies
had an upper and lower crust, and
the conditions of the match compelled
the contestants to eat both crusts as
well as the back crust. 1t was Just
= o'clock when Mr.. Lakeman yelled
"GoW The negro was the first to
seize pie. He grabbed huckleberry
and ran IL through his mouth like a
harmonica. In one minute and four
teen seconds not remnant of the pie
remained. Avery fed his appetite with
an apricot, which he swallowed with
considerable gusto in LII. For bis
second pie the negro selected cold
mince, which he gulped down in LIP.
The white man ran bis fsngs into a
dried apple pie, and, to the surprise of
his friends, finished it in LII. The
negro ran his eyes over the collection
before him and picked out dropsical
looking huckleberry. This he swallow
ed in LIS. Avery was just one second
slower in getting outside of an apricot.
The negro now made spurt Selling
peach pie with both hands he ran
about four irches of crust and fruit in
to his big mouth, and then bis teeth
came down with crash. A suppressed
groan escaped from his huckleberry be-
daubed lips aud his eyes rolled as
though they were being worked on
pivots. Then his lips parted and some
thing white was blown against the
counter.
"Foul !" yelled one of the white man Z
friends, who thought the negro was
discsrding a piece of crust.
"Foul muffin" gasped the negro.
"That's a toof."
The white thing was picked up by
Mr.. Lakeman and placed in beer
mug. 1t proved to be stomach tooth
which had been broken close to the
jaw by piece of peach stone. Avery
finished his pie in two minutes. Locke
then swallowed huckleberry in POS
The negro nearly knocked himself out
with dried currant pie which had
been labeled as mince. He choked on
the eighth mouthful, but recovering
himself finished the pie in 2.1O. Locke
who now showed signs of distress
grabbed up two-crusted lemon and
tore large hole in its side. A stream
of syrup ran into his whiskers and
trickled upon his shirt front. Billy
Lakeman offered to wiring the beard, bu,
the pie-biter wanted no assistance and
finished the somewhat marshy pie in
2.15. The negro devoured his third
huckleberry in 2.40. Locke now me,
with his first misfortune. While the
match was yet in Its infancy he asked
to have mince pie warmed on the
stove. His wish was gratifed. The
pie was placed where it would sap al
the heat the old coal stove furnished
and when it came back to the racer il
was hot enough to need fan. Locke
took big bite and then danced out
into the middle of the floor with 9
mufiled whoop. The crowd yelled, but
the racer held his food Beads oi
sweat rolled down his cheeks and his
eyes bulged out with wild stare. II
took Locke 3 minutes and 20 seconds
to finish the pie. The negro gained q
lap during his opponents struggle with
the shot mince," and destroyed his
eighth plea sour rhubarb-in very
short time. The eighth pie the negro
picked up was made of applea 1t had
puffy crust, and the racer in order tc
gain time attempted to stow away the
upper crust in his coat pocket. HI
was caught at the trick, however, and
compelled to follow the conditions oil
the match.
Locke removed his coat and yest
and loosened his suspenders when h,
came up for his seventh pie-a pittet
prune which was leaking like a fifty
cent umbrella. He made a terribl,
effort to catch up with his opponent
but to no avail. He finished the pi,
in the slow time of SOP. The negro
ate his fourth huckleberry pie in thre,
minutes, the squirt being wildly cheeret
by the spectators. Locke was clearly
loser when he tackled his eighth pi,
"a heavy apricot, with a big gothi
punctured in the crust 1t took hin
seven minutes to get outside of tn
sinker. Avery, seeing tha. he was
sure winner, chose cold mince ''to tol
off with He was attacked wit
nausea before he had taken two mouth
fuls, however, and would have droppe,
to the floor had not Lakeman turne
stream of seltzer water down his back
This revived the weary negro, wh
finished the pie in eleven minute,
Locke took his last mouthful out of hi
last pie two minutes later. He al
tributed his defeat to the hot miuce.
AT the close of the match the tw
men were led to the gymnasium, wher
they were treated for gripes an
nausea. The winners time was 35 8
and the losers 1921.
An Ancient Town